A conservation easement is an agreement in which a property
owner agrees to limit the use of his or her land in perpetuity in order toprotect one or more specified conservation purposes. The instrumentscreating the conservation easement are recorded in the public recordsaffecting the ownership of the property. The conservation easement isheld by a third party (holder), which monitors the use of the land andensures that the terms of the agreement are upheld. A state income taxcredit is currently allowed for a portion of the value of a donatedconservation easement.
The statutes establishing the conservation easement oversight
commission and the program to certify conservation easement holders inthe division of conservation are currently set to repeal on July 1, 2019.The bill extends the repeal dates for each to July 1, 2026. In addition, thebill would:
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Eliminate a requirement that the board of real estateappraisers establish education and experience requirementsfor conservation easement appraisers;
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Relocate and modify certain provisions governing thecreation and valuation of conservation easements;
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Allow the division of conservation to use an alternativemethod acceptable to the division and the conservationeasement oversight commission to value a conservationeasement;
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Modify provisions governing a conservation easementworking group convened to address specified issuesrelating to claiming a state income tax credit for thedonation of a conservation easement;
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Require the owner of property who is granting aconservation easement to execute a disclosure formdeveloped by the division of conservation and theconservation easement oversight commission regarding theeasement;
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Modify provisions governing when a conservationeasement may be extinguished;
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Prohibit a conservation easement for which a state incometax credit has been allowed from being released,terminated, extinguished, or abandoned by merger, whichoccurs when the same entity holds both the easement andthe land subject to the easement;
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Increase the percentage of the value of a conservationeasement that may be claimed as an income tax credit andthe total amount that may be claimed for the easement,while limiting the amount of credits that may be issued peryear; and
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Make an appropriation to Colorado state university tofacilitate the provision of public access to the Coloradoownership, management, and protection (COMaP) servicewhich maintains a database and corresponding map ofconservation easements and other protected lands inColorado.
Additionally, the bill makes conforming amendments to certain
statutory sections contained in HB 19-1172, which recodifies title 12, toensure that the provisions of the bill will be effective if HB 19-1172becomes law.